Public Statements

Lugar: Streamline the Income Tax to Create Jobs and Help Families

Press Release

U.S. Sen. Dick Lugar (R-IN), marked the April 17th income tax filing deadline by underscoring the need to overhaul the U.S. tax code. "Tuesday is the tax filing deadline for individual American taxpayers," Lugar noted. "For many, it is a daunting task. Our current tax code is too complicated, too riddled with exceptions and loopholes, and doesn't provide the right incentives to work, save, and invest. Streamlining the tax code is one way that we can incentivize investment in the United States at a time when our country is in need of economic growth and jobs for Americans."

"I believe that policies enacted at every level of government must be geared to create and sustain a positive environment for business growth and job creation," Lugar said. "The cumbersome U.S. tax code needs to be simplified. Instead of proposing the comprehensive tax reform the country needs, however, President Obama is creating a distraction by pushing the Buffett Rule to raise taxes on millionaires." Conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer noted that this proposal, if enacted and left in place for 250 years, "would not cover the Obama deficit for 2011 alone."

Meanwhile, the expiration of several different tax reductions at year's end threatens taxpayers and the American economy with an unprecedented $494 billion tax hike, which the Washington Post has called "Taxmageddon." The bulk of the tax increases would come from the termination of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, the expiration of the temporary payroll tax cut, and the expiration of the "patch" to the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). Lugar supported all these tax reduction measures. "A year-end tax spike would be a disaster for the vitality of American families and the U.S. economy," Lugar said.

Lugar is engaged in efforts to reduce tax rates across the board. In November 2011, he introduced legislation that would extend for another year the bonus depreciation and small business expense deductions, thereby encouraging investment in the United States. The Lugar bill is supported by Americans for Tax Reform and the National Federation of Independent Business, along with a coalition of 77 trade associations, which include the National Association of Manufacturers and the Associated Equipment Distributors.

Additionally, Lugar is a cosponsor and longtime proponent of the FairTax Act, which would abolish the federal income tax and the Internal Revenue Service, along with federal employment taxes, federal inheritance taxes, corporate taxes, and social security taxes. It would replace all these taxes with a single national sales tax on consumer goods and services. Implementation of the FairTax Act would stimulate job-creating economic growth and encourage investment in the American economy.